


As You Say

by PunishedPyotr



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Attempted Seduction, Circular Logic, Drunk Sex, Dubious Consent, Frottage, Jealousy, Love Triangles, M/M, Multi, Past Rape/Non-con, Regret, reupload, you'll finally find out what a lime is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 19:54:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13371939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PunishedPyotr/pseuds/PunishedPyotr
Summary: It turns out, when scheming to exert influence over someone, seductionisthe old-fashioned way.





	As You Say

**Author's Note:**

>  
> 
> howdy everyone i’m pp! i’m aireyv’s number one fan so you can just call me deepthroat haha. this is aireyv’s official (semi-officail? they gave permission and even helped me set it up! and taught me html hahaha) PHANTOM ACCOUNT. as soon as i saw the announcement about the fics being taken down, i rushed to snag as many of them as i could!!! and now i’m reuploading them all!!!! starting with this one, their first metal gear fic aside from the snake's revenge novelization
> 
> typically i copy/past aireyv’s original author’s note, so here it is!
> 
>  
> 
> _Shoutout to my friend Denver for being completely useless when I asked him for help with writing a certain sentence. And by completely useless, I mean he supplied two different lines for me to use, but he ain't exactly a writer, so I just laughed at him and paraphrased one of 'em like 6,000 words after the spot I had originally asked for advice on._

This was a bad idea.

He knew it was a bad idea before he'd let Ocelot bed him, before he let Ocelot into his room, before he took Ocelot up on his suggestion of having a drink, which turned into two drinks, which turned into several drinks, because damn it if he hadn't been stressed lately and damn it if he hadn't been caught in a rare moment of vulnerability. This was _a bad idea_.

Liquid, sometimes, did not have a lot of _good_ ideas.

"O-Oh, god, _Ocelot-_ "

"Just for tonight, boss, call me 'Adam'."

Liquid couldn't even look at him, instead closing his eyes or keeping them fixed on the ceiling. Didn't do much to distract from the fact that he was currently engaging in foreplay with a man 28 years older than him, though. The gloved hands that ran over his skin were unmistakably Ocelot's, and every brush of his lips was accompanied by his mustache.

Despite himself, Liquid moaned.

There was a bad joke in here somewhere about how easy it was to fuck people who had daddy issues.

Ocelot pulled his gloves off with his teeth, and when Liquid felt his fingers slide between the waistband of his pants and his hips, he twitched, grabbing Ocelot's wrists tightly.

"Problem, boss?" Ocelot said.

"Ah," Liquid said, then looked away again. Now wouldn't be a great time to mention _why_ this was the first time he'd had anything to do with sex since he was rescued from Iraq, and he didn't want to tell Ocelot anyway - although he wouldn't be surprised if he somehow already knew.

Ocelot took Liquid's silence as a prompt to continue, and Liquid allowed that, moving his hands away and - not really knowing what else to do with them - nervously gripping the bedsheets. He groaned as he felt the cool night air hit his erection.

This… was a _really bad idea._

He twitched again when he felt Ocelot's hand on his inner thigh, a light touch but clearly intended to spread his legs. Acting on some instinct he'd long thought he'd left behind, he pressed his legs together tightly, half-sitting up and scooting away.

He opened his mouth to try and justify himself, but for once he couldn't think of anything to say.

Ocelot just raised an eyebrow at him. "Having second thoughts?"

"I should have immediately dismissed my _first_ thoughts."

Ocelot drew closer to him, leaning over him. Liquid leaned back, but wasn't able to recover the distance between them. "You haven't kicked me out yet," Ocelot said.

"No. I haven't. I noticed."

One hand slipped down to the small of his back and pulled him nearer, so that Liquid's dick was pressed up against Ocelot's stomach. He gasped, putting one hand over his mouth, and closed his eyes. His legs were shaking.

"You want this, boss," Ocelot said in a low voice, "you need this."

"Fuck…"

He was pushed back into the mattress, and shivered as Ocelot stroked his cock, bringing it from half-hard to almost painfully ready for action. His hips jerked up, and Ocelot quickly slipped a hand underneath him, squeezing his asscheeks.

He felt a little sick to his stomach at the slight disappointment on Ocelot's face. Damn it, he _knew_ he had a flat ass, that old bastard didn't need to rub it in!

"There's the expression I like to see," Ocelot murmured, kissing his neck.

Liquid just rested one arm over his eyes. Maybe he could blame this on the alcohol. _Maybe_. Truth be told, he wasn't even drunk - just barely tipsy - he had no one and nothing to blame but himself and the fact that he was starved for attention. For affection. He felt Ocelot's fingers working against his asshole, and shuddered, letting out a thin whine. "O- Adam," he breathed.

"Mm?"

"Don't… don't hurt me."

It seemed like such a stupid thing to ask.

"You're the type who likes it slow and gentle, boss?" Ocelot said. He didn't sound surprised, although most people would have been, considering Liquid's… general personality and propensity for roughness. But god damn it, if he was going to do this, if he was going to have another man's hands all over him and his dick _in_ him, he didn't want it to be _anything_ like the last time that had happened.

There was the small _pop_ of a bottle opening, and then Liquid felt Ocelot's fingers return to his ass, now coated in lube, and he wondered, what the hell? did Ocelot just carry around a container of it with him at all times? or had he planned this whole idiotic episode? …Liquid chose to stop that train of thought there. It would have been derailed anyway when Ocelot murmured "Relax," and he felt the first finger push up into him; he swallowed hard. It didn't hurt, actually. He was a little surprised.

Sex had really always been, in Liquid's mind, a violent act.

He knew, intellectually, that that wasn't true - otherwise, there would be a _lot_ of people who would have never been born. But it wasn't something he really ever thought about; maybe it was his proximity to Mantis for, well, pretty much his entire adolescence, but he'd never been interested in or comfortable with thinking about it too hard. So his initial perception of it - when he was maybe eight or nine, in Angola, and had an older squad commander who'd kidnap girls from local villages and fuck them, and he never knew if they lived or died afterwards - had never changed. In fact, it'd just been reaffirmed when he'd been held prisoner during the Gulf War, or rather after the Gulf War, and had been brutalized repeatedly by men he'd later killed.

But this wasn't like that.

Shockingly enough, the notoriously sadistic Ocelot was being gentle, was taking it slow, and was perceptive enough to tell, when Liquid gave up on any kind of coherent vocalizations, what moans mean 'keep going, just like that' and what groans meant 'stop, give me a minute.' Liquid supposed it had something to do with the fact that Ocelot was still in love with his father - everyone in FOXHOUND knew that - and he'd probably long fantasized about fucking Big Boss with exactly this level of tenderness, of romance, even. Liquid would have to be an idiot to think that there was _any_ reason for Ocelot to be here other than the fact that Liquid was a low-grade copy of Big Boss… but he didn't care.

Right now, he didn't care, even if he knew it was going to bother him later. Right now he was more focused on Ocelot's cock in his ass, thrusting lazily and just-frequently-enough hitting a spot that made Liquid shake and cry out. It didn't hurt. It still didn't hurt. It felt good. It wasn't like the weird, almost uncomfortable pseudo-pleasure he'd always associated with the mindless, animal urge to get off - it genuinely felt _good_ , and he genuinely wanted _more_. More of this, more of the heart-pounding feeling of lightning melting through his veins like a slow burn, shivery, sharp, hot, and _good_.

And Ocelot's fingers were wrapped around Liquid's dick, rubbing gently and rhythmically, and one of Liquid's arms was hooked around his shoulder (the other hand twisted into the sheets near his head) and some part of him was repulsed by the leathery old man texture but the rest of him was too damn distracted to even make note of it. Ocelot could have been anyone else in the world right now; Liquid just kept his eyes closed, moaning "Adam, _Adam_ ," a name that meant nothing to him at all.

He climaxed before Ocelot did. He was just coming down off his orgasm when he felt semen spurt into his bowels - he should have asked about a condom, of _course_ Ocelot wouldn't have bothered with one on his own - and for a second he couldn't breathe and he had to force himself back to reality, to the present. Where he was in America, not southern Iraq, and wasn't in any kind of danger.

And had just fucked Revolver Ocelot, a disgusting man 28 years older than him.

This was the worst idea he'd ever had.

Liquid bit back a whimper when Ocelot pulled out. He shifted uncomfortably, tensely, as he felt semen and lube leak out of him, and chanced a glance at Ocelot just in time to see him wipe Liquid's ejaculate off his stomach with his fingers and lick them clean, with relish. Liquid's jaw worked.

"That was good, boss," Ocelot said with a grin. He left the bed to retrieve his clothes from the floor.

… _it_ was _good, wasn't it?_ Liquid thought. Even if the mind-shattering pleasure of it had faded so quickly that he couldn't even been sure it had felt _that_ great to begin with, now that it was over he could still say that it hadn't hurt at all - perhaps he was a little tender, but not sore. And _during_ , when he'd genuinely worried about being torn open again even though Ocelot's prick was really only average, there had only been painless stretching and pressure that had felt nice enough that he almost regretted how empty his ass felt at the moment. So, yes, if nothing else - _that_ was good.

"I didn't know it could feel like that."

Ocelot's back was turned when Liquid said that. He paused. Liquid immediately regretted speaking - implying something so personal he hadn't even told Mantis about it until Mantis told him he'd seen it in his mind anyway - but he knew that trying to justify or retract the statement would only draw attention to it.

Neither of them said anything for a moment, then Ocelot went back to buttoning his shirt. Liquid grabbed his blanket from where it'd been kicked to the very end of the bed and covered himself, feeling strangely exposed, considering the only other person in the room had his back turned to him, and also had just seen and enjoyed every inch of Liquid's naked body anyway.

"Get out," Liquid said flatly, finally breaking the silence.

Ocelot glanced at him over his shoulder. "So much for intimacy."

"And don't tell anyone what we did. If I hear any talk about this, I'll kill you myself."

Ocelot shrugged and made for the door. Before he closed it behind him, he said, "I'm always at your disposal, boss," and winked. Then he was gone.

Liquid stared at the dark ceiling, arms pressed tightly against his torso, trying to ignore the sweat-soaked, sticky dampness of the sheets below him. He felt inexplicably cold. For not the first time that night, he counted himself fortunate that the privileges of leadership included his own private quarters.

* * *

Early the next morning, once he'd finished making double-sure he didn't have any hickies from the previous night and cursing his inferior genes for the fact that he had a headache and a dry mouth even though his alcohol intake had been negligible at best, Liquid cleaned himself - _thoroughly_ \- and ventured out of his room to find another pair of sheets to change out his bedspread before anyone noticed anything. He passed Mantis in the hallway, walking in the opposite direction, while he was carrying the dirty sheets to what passed for the FOXHOUND headquarters' laundry room.

"Morning, Mantis."

"Good morning, b-" Mantis abruptly stopped.

Liquid walked faster. He only got a few steps away before he was slammed with the feeling of being stuck in a wall.

"I should have known you'd react like this," Liquid drawled.

"Youuuu did _what_ with-" Mantis started angrily, but Liquid cut him off.

"Let me go, Mantis, and I've told you a thousand times not to read my mind. You're being childish."

" _Of all people-_ "

"It's none of your business," Liquid snapped, "and it's not anyone else's, either. So don't. say. _anything_."

Mantis wasn't exactly allowing Liquid to turn around and look at him right now, but he could still tell that Mantis was glowering at him. Then Liquid was psychically dragged bodily to a nearby supply closet, where Mantis joined him and then released his hold on him. Liquid immediately tried the doorknob, but it was locked. He sighed, irritated.

"Mantis, you're being _childish_. This has nothing to do with you."

"You had sex with Ocelot," Mantis said, and Liquid had honestly never heard anyone sound more disgusted in his life.

"And you wouldn't have found out about it if you hadn't been reading my mind like I told you _not to do_."

"You had sex. With _Ocelot_."

"I was just- blowing off some steam-"

" _Ocelot_ , of all people!"

"It didn't mean anything," Liquid protested, his cheeks hot.

"Just because you didn't let him kiss you on the mouth doesn't mean it 'didn't mean anything,' Eli."

"Don't call me Eli."

"What is _wrong_ with you?"

Liquid snarled at him. "What's wrong with _you?_ It doesn't affect you that I shagged Ocelot once. It wouldn't affect you even if I did it every night!"

Mantis made a repulsed scoff, and it sounded even madder filtered through the gas mask. "This had better not happen again."

"No, of course not. It was a one time thing," Liquid said. He genuinely had no plans to do that a second time, and Mantis undoubtedly knew it already, and if saying that out loud ended the conversation? Fine. _Not that it's any of your business_ , he thought pointedly.

Mantis wasn't done. "I didn't expect you to be so selfish, Liquid. You disappoint me."

"Mantis-"

"And why Ocelot? It's bad enough that you _did_ this at all, but it would have been better if you'd gone to Wolf instead, if she'd have you - I know you're attracted to her and at least you're _sterile_. It'd still be disgusting, but - _Ocelot?_ He was just _using_ you."

"I know," Liquid said through gritted teeth, "I know he only did it because of my father. I don't care. I was just using him, too. I wanted sex, that was all."

Mantis gave him a withering look. "I don't believe that was the only reason he seduced you. He's up to something."

Liquid took a deep breath through his nose. "Now you're just being paranoid."

"You're being naïve."

"This conversation is over, Mantis," Liquid said flatly, "now stay out of my sex life, and _out of my head_. We're not children anymore, I don't want you in there."

"I can't believe you let him have his way with you after what happened in Iraq-"

"That is _enough_ , Mantis!" Liquid shouted. Mantis jerked back an inch, and was silent. After a pregnant pause, the lock clicked, and Liquid quickly opened the door.

And ran into Wolf.

She stared at the two of them still standing in the closet. Liquid heard a sharp intake of breath behind him - Mantis, offended by whatever Wolf was assuming was the reason why they were locked in a supply closet together.

"I do not want to know," she said at length, and walked away.

Liquid glared at Mantis. "Now look what you've done." He stalked off to the laundry room.

* * *

"So I hear you've been acting awfully territorial." A casual remark.

Mantis didn't bother turning around. He had no desire to even _look_ at Ocelot right now. Or talk to him. "Where did you hear that?" he said anyway.

"Liquid," Ocelot said.

"…why did he tell you that?" Mantis said stiffly.

"It seems I've suddenly acquired quite the rapport with him."

Mantis growled. He was sorely tempted to just murder Ocelot with his mind, except ever since becoming commander of FOXHOUND Liquid had been fairly insistent on everyone _getting along_ \- or at least tolerating one another, so if Mantis killed a comrade Liquid would probably never forgive him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Ocelot said, sounding the exact opposite of sorry, "if I'd known you two were an item, I wouldn't have… interposed."

"We are _not_ ," Mantis said, finally turning around, "an _item_. What do you take me for?"

Before Ocelot could reply, Raven walked into the room. Ocelot nodded at him in greeting, and Mantis ignored him when he asked if he could read the newspaper when he was done with it. He just kept glaring at Ocelot; while he would have loved to continue their awful conversation so he could get a better idea of what Ocelot's ulterior motives were, with Raven in the room that was an impossibility. Liquid was already angry at Mantis for shoving him into a closet and interrogating him about his sex life, though he'd get over it by the next morning - he was more than used to Mantis' occasionally intrusive behavior, after all. But if Raven heard about the scandal and Liquid found out that Raven knew, well…

It mostly came down the fact that Mantis couldn't, and quite frankly didn't want to, read Ocelot's mind. He didn't have cybernetic implants or anything, but nonetheless his mind was a confusing and repulsive place. Mantis had _attempted_ to read his mind on many occasions, but it wasn't until a while after Ocelot joined FOXHOUND that Mantis figured out that he didn't, in fact, simply think about sex all the time, but rather it was some kind of psychic defense mechanism. He still didn't know if he did that on purpose or not.

Also, Ocelot knew that Mantis had no idea what was going on his head. In fact, Mantis couldn't interpret his smug glance as anything other than lording that over him.

Without saying a word, he brushed past Raven and Ocelot and headed for Liquid's office.

He entered the office without knocking; the door wasn't locked, but that wouldn't have stopped him anyway. Liquid rolled his eyes when he saw Mantis, and mouthed 'give me a minute' - he was on the phone.

Mantis waited silently, patiently, until Liquid finally hung up and gave him a level look. "What do you want?" he said evenly. (Mantis didn't have to read his mind to know he was still upset with him.)

"About this morning…"

Liquid groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Look, Mantis, unless you're going to apologize - and I _know_ you're not - save us both the trouble and get out of my office now."

"You told Ocelot I was being 'territorial'," Mantis talked over him.

"That was _not_ the word I used," Liquid said, flushing. "I mentioned your behavior off-hand to him, and if that's how he interpreted it, that's your fault, not mine."

"What right do you have to mention a conversation between _us_ to _him?_ "

Liquid stared at him. "Between _us?_ Mantis, the conversation was about something that happened between Ocelot and I, that had nothing to do with you, and you harangued me about it anyway! What right do _you_ have to be angry at me?!"

"I'm only angry at you for being an _idiot_. Ocelot's up to something, he's trying to get close to you-" Liquid held up a hand, and Mantis shut up with a huff.

"You're being ridiculous," he said, "I know the two of you had some kind of rivalry while you were in the KGB at the same time, but this is completely irrelevant to that. Tell me, Mantis, how is a one night stand - that I _regret_ \- supposed to get him 'closer' to me?"

"You certainly feel comfortable enough with him now to talk about me behind my back," Mantis hissed.

"You were being annoying, so I complained about you!" Liquid said, "how is that any different than usual? It didn't mean anything."

"You keep saying that."

"And you keep saying Ocelot has some kind of designs on me. Do you have _anything_ even _approaching_ proof of that?"

Mantis fell silent. If it had been anyone else they were talking about, Liquid would have easily accepted 'I saw it in his thoughts', but they both knew Mantis was totally in the dark on Ocelot's real intentions. "…why _else_ would he take advantage of you like that?"

"He'd probably been thinking about it for ages and was just waiting for the right moment. And _don't_ say he took advantage of me, it may have been stupid of me but I knew full well what I was doing."

"At least you admit it was stupid," Mantis said coldly.

"If it'll get you off my back about it, then yes, I do." He sighed. "Unless you have some kind of proof that Ocelot is trying to manipulate me like you claim, just drop the subject."

"But-"

"Drop it, Mantis. If you have nothing to say about _anything_ else, get out of my office. They're threatening to cut our budget again and I am _busy_."

Mantis glared at him, feeling his thoughts about how _Ocelot was right, he_ is _being territorial… god, he has no right acting like a jilted lover when he's anything but…_ then teleported away without another word.

* * *

It wasn't until the middle of the night that Mantis got the chance to talk to Ocelot alone. Mantis was out and about because he really only bothered to sleep once a week, and he happened across Ocelot while the latter was prowling the otherwise empty hallways.

"Looking for someone else to fill with alcohol and take advantage of?" Mantis said dryly.

Ocelot didn't seem at all surprised by Mantis' sudden appearance. He simply turned around, studied him impassively for half a moment, then said, "He wasn't drunk. You should know, of course, considering I'm sure you saw _every_ detail of it in his memories."

Mantis' eye twitched under his mask. He didn't want to think about the specifics of what he'd seen in Liquid's memories of the previous night. "You're sick."

"I'm in good company."

"I know you're up to something."

Ocelot cocked his head, his face still unreadable. "What, exactly, do you think I'm up to?"

"You've got some sort of plan that you want to use him as a pawn in, now that he's commander, so you're trying to get close to him." Mantis crossed his arms haughtily.

Ocelot raised his eyebrows. He looked amused. "And I suppose the reason why I used sex to do it was because I knew you'd overreact and drive a wedge between you and him."

Mantis was silent.

_Damn._

He'd been played.

"You- it's _your_ fault Eli thinks I'm being paranoid and territorial!"

"I didn't make you do anything," Ocelot said with an unpleasant grin, "you're just being being paranoid and territorial all on your own."

Mantis ground his teeth together, wondering if Liquid would eventually get over it if he killed Ocelot, then teleported away from Ocelot and to the door of Liquid's room, which flew open in front of him. "Boss, wake up!"

"Gah!"

"Put the knife down, it's just me."

Liquid blinked several times, then rubbed his face tiredly. "This had better be important, Mantis."

"I just confronted Ocelot-"

"Oh, for the love of…" Liquid flopped over backwards and pulled the blanket back over him, "let it _go_ , Mantis. I already said I wouldn't do it again - and anyway it's ridiculous that you think you have grounds to ban me from having sex."

"Ocelot's manipulating you, boss. I just got him to admit to it - here, I can show you the memory."

" _No_ , Mantis, I told you to stay out of my- ah." He let out a very long sigh. "…you know he's just mocking you, right?"

"What?"

"He's taking the piss. Apparently he finds your little tantrum funny."

For a few moments, the only sound in the room was Mantis' raspy breathing. Then he said, "you don't believe me? You think I'm lying to you?"

Liquid sat up again. "I don't think you're _lying_ , I just think you've convinced yourself that this is some complicated plan of Ocelot's because you don't want to admit that I'd willingly fuck him," he drawled. "It _happened_ , Mantis. Get over it."

"Get over it?" Mantis said, his already high voice going up half an octave. "He waited until you were stressed and vulnerable to make a move, and didn't care when you started having flashbacks to-"

"Stop," Liquid said, put his hands up to his temples like he had a headache, "stop it. Stop bringing that up. It wasn't like that, you should know. He was perfectly considerate."

"Why are you defending him?" Mantis snapped.

"Why are you attacking him?" Liquid barked back, "do you think you're _protecting_ me or something? I _don't_ need you to that, and I'm not worth your time anyway." He scoffed. "Are you trying to make up for not being there in '91?"

Mantis flinched. If he had one regret, it was that he hadn't been around when Liquid was captured. And Liquid knew that - he knew he was crossing a line, but Mantis knew that he just had, too.

"I'm tired," Liquid said, pointedly turning his head to the side, "I didn't get much sleep last night. Leave."

"Eli…"

"Don't call me that. Just go."

Mantis watched Liquid make a show of lying back down and throwing his blanket over himself again, then walked back into the hallway and softly closed the door behind him. That… had not gone well. Liquid still trusted Ocelot. _And_ it had set back the countdown until he shrugged off Mantis' "little tantrum" by another day or two. Maybe longer, since they'd broached the unfortunate subject of his imprisonment in Iraq several years ago.

He found Ocelot in the hallway again. He was probably waiting for him, although he was certainly playing it off as though he happened to be passing by.

"He told you were being childish, didn't he?" Ocelot said.

Mantis hissed at him.

* * *

Over the next few days, Mantis backed off on pestering Liquid about Ocelot, but kept a close eye on the two of them nonetheless. He still believed that Ocelot was trying to slip into Liquid's closest confidences, and the conversations he overhead - well, eavesdropped on - supported that… although right now it mostly came in the form of Ocelot helping Liquid out with the threat of a budget cut, since the latter was abysmal at staying calm (and sitting still) long enough to negotiate financials. It certainly seemed to work as far as getting Liquid to warm up to Ocelot went, with the added downside of the fact that Liquid would get _supremely_ annoyed if Mantis interrupted his attempt to secure more money for FOXHOUND.

Mantis would have liked to interrupt them, though, because every time Liquid talked to Ocelot, Mantis could see, in the back of his mind, the memory of their night together. It didn't occur to Mantis that Liquid wasn't actively thinking of it - the time he, much to his chagrin, absent-mindedly called Ocelot "Adam" notwithstanding - and it only had as much relevancy to the topic at hand as the time Ocelot CQCed him back in 1984… Mantis jumped to the conclusion that, despite Liquid saying several times he didn't plan on doing it again, he had gone back on that and was _totally open to the idea of fucking Ocelot again_.

Not if Mantis could help it.

In the midst of all this, Octopus returned from an assignment. He settled in for a cup of coffee with Raven and Wolf and asked them why Liquid had been more short-tempered than usual during his debriefing.

"He and Mantis are having a spat," Wolf said, nonchalantly taking a sip of her coffee.

"Over what?" Octopus said, "usually those two are the only ones each other can actually get along with."

"It's a love triangle," Raven said.

Octopus raised his eyebrows, or at least the part of his forehead that normal people had eyebrows on. "Who's the third person?" He looked at Wolf. "You?"

"Oh no," she said, "Ocelot."

"…you're kidding."

"Unfortunately, no," Raven said.

"Oh my god. Ocelot is 28 years older than the boss. And Mantis is aggressively asexual, what the hell kind of love triangle is this?"

"I don't know," Raven said.

"But it is fun to watch," Wolf said.

Raven happened to be in the mess hall (really, it was more like a break room, considering FOXHOUND had never been a large unit, even back in the glory days when Big Boss ran it) when Mantis decided to interrupt Ocelot's lunch by trying once again to read his mind. Well, _interrupt_ \- he'd merely floated quietly in the corner until he made a loud, disgusted noise and disappeared entirely. Mantis' theory was that, if he could somehow get past the 'layer' of torture fetish and lust for Big Boss, he would finally find just what that man was _thinking_ , but Ocelot's mind was a complicated place and trying to navigate it was like trying to get through a never-ending maze where the all the walls were plastered with pornography.

And that was how Mantis ended up in one of the bathrooms, his mask pushed up over his forehead, hacking up bile into a toilet. After a few minutes, he exited the stall, and found Liquid, who had been washing his hands when Mantis had teleported in, still standing there.

"Are you alright?" he said. "I heard vomiting."

"I'm fine," Mantis said stiffly, adjusting the straps on his gas mask. "…Ocelot's brain is a repulsive place."

Liquid's good graces evaporated. "Are you still on about that?"

"Boss, if I told you I'd managed to read Ocelot's mind and found that he really is trying to manipulate you, would you even believe me?"

"Honestly, no," Liquid said. "I'm sick and tired of you two sniping at each other all the time."

"…what did Ocelot say about me?"

"He said you have no right to throw a fit over me having sex just because _you_ don't like it - and don't tell me you wouldn't act like this if it had been anyone other than Ocelot, we both know you would - and while he's not _wrong_ , ultimately this has nothing to do with him and I shouldn't have even asked him what I should do with you."

"You asked him for _advice?_ "

Liquid gave him a very unimpressed glare. "Oh, so now I'm not even allowed to _talk_ to another man?" _He's being territorial again_ , Liquid thought, and a muscle in Mantis' jaw twitched.

"He's trying to get close to you, and he's trying to drive a wedge between us. I don't know why you don't believe me."

"Because you just come across as afraid that he'll usurp your position as my right-hand man," Liquid said dryly. "And if you're so afraid of a wedge being driven between us, why don't you try _not_ _harassing me_ about Ocelot? And here I was almost ready to forgive you for being such a prat about the whole situation."

Mantis opened his mouth to respond, then decided against it, closing it again. His fingers clenched and unclenched. Liquid waited a moment for Mantis' reply, then strode out of the bathroom without another word when none came. Privately, Mantis wondered if Liquid was right, and he was just being paranoid and, yes, maybe even territorial, and when Ocelot had "admitted" he was playing the two of them against each other, he really _had_ just been pulling Mantis' leg and making fun of the fact that, okay, _yes_ , he was high-strung. Maybe when Ocelot had fucked Liquid it really had just been because Liquid was a clone of Big Boss, and Liquid was just being a slut, and while those two things were certainly bad enough on their own, maybe the sinister implications of it was just Mantis reading into it too much because _he was high-strung_.

…but no, that couldn't be right. When was Mantis ever _wrong?_ He wasn't the world's greatest psychic for nothing.

It wasn't his thinking that needed to change, it was his tactics. Clearly it was impossible to convince Liquid that Ocelot was setting him up for something… but it _wasn't_ impossible to drive Ocelot back out of Liquid's personal life by eliminating the "need" for him.

It would be distasteful, but Mantis would do it. For Eli.

* * *

There was a small, isolated forest about six miles away from FOXHOUND headquarters, which was fortunate because the range of Mantis' psychic powers was roughly five miles. If he wanted to take his mask off without being inundated by other people's thoughts, he had to go somewhere that had almost 79 square miles completely unpopulated - and this forest fit the bill. He usually teleported over there every few days so he could eat something without being bothered.

Tonight was different, though. Tonight he was being driven there by Liquid, who hadn't even asked the reason why Mantis invited him along. The sun had just finished setting when they left headquarters, and as they bounced along the dilapidated country road (going honestly too fast, because that was just how Liquid drove), the sky was already turning a deep purple-black. It was a clear night, and Mantis had said they wouldn't take long.

It wasn't until Mantis had led Liquid to his usual spot, a clearing with a large tree whose roots made a comfortable backrest, and they had both sat down when Liquid finally asked, "Why did you bring me all the way out here, anyway?"

"It's the only place I can take off my mask in peace," Mantis said, doing exactly that. Immediately he could hear and feel Liquid's thoughts as distinctly and inexorably as if Liquid were speaking out loud, but since he was the only person in Mantis' range, and Mantis had been more than party to his every thought for years, he wasn't bothered. Right now the only thing of note was Liquid's idle, comfortable curiosity at Mantis.

"I know that, Mantis. Why bring me along?" The idea that Mantis were trying to corner him about Ocelot again occurred to him, and he tensed, his mood shifting like the discordant hum of a dropped guitar. "Don't tell me…"

"I wanted to apologize, actually," Mantis said, putting the gas mask on the ground next to him and looking at Liquid. Liquid was a little distracted by Mantis' face - he'd only seen it a handful of times, and while the first time he'd seen it he had thought it was hideous, even back then he hadn't cared (" _Lots_ of people are ugly," he'd sneered) and by this point he actually relished the fact that Mantis had long been at ease enough with him to show him his face every so often.

"What?" Liquid said, and it was half because he'd been too busy staring. He was a little embarrassed at that.

"About Ocelot. I was being childish."

Liquid blinked, stunned. "Oh. You admit it?"

"Yes, I admit it. It wasn't any of my business, and I should have left you alone about it." Mantis steeled himself before continuing. "The truth is, Liquid, I was jealous."

"Jealous?" Liquid's expression didn't change, but nonetheless Mantis heard him think _Surely he doesn't mean…_ and he was confused, and Mantis realized that already he'd messed up and was coming across as out-of-character and unless he threw Liquid off balance he was going to get suspicious.

He moved closer to Liquid, saying, "I know you had a crush on me when we were children."

Liquid's face went red, and his confusion was replaced with a vulnerable, abashed surprise. "I was twelve," he choked out.

"And you never got over it, did you? I still feel that attraction from you, even now."

 _Oh my god, oh fuck, oh fuck, I thought he was oblivious about this sort of thing!_ Liquid turned his head away, grimacing and putting one hand to the side of his face to block Mantis from his view. _Damn, he can hear my thoughts like this. Shit. That just confirms it for him, doesn't it? Oh, my god._ "Mantis," he said, "how come you never-"

"I was comfortable with where we were," Mantis said, grabbing his arm and pulling it away from his face, "but then Ocelot had to try to steal you away from me."

Liquid stared at Mantis, eyes wide, and his thoughts devolved into the mental equivalent of smashing on a keyboard. "Are- are you serious right now, Mantis? This isn't funny."

"I'm serious."

 _Holy fuck_ , he managed to think.

"And I brought you here tonight to steal you back," Mantis continued, because he wasn't sure if Liquid would come to that conclusion on his own.

…he also wasn't sure if he hadn't somehow managed to break Liquid. He very much had a 'deer caught in the headlights' look (and thoughts, and emotional state) right now.

"Eli?" Mantis goaded.

"I…" Liquid said faintly, "this is… sudden…"

"How many years have we been together?"

"…"

Mantis took a deep breath, then grabbed Liquid by both sides of the head and pressed his mouth to his.

It was the most awkward thing that had ever happened to him.

And if he'd thought Liquid's brain was short-circuiting _before_ , that had nothing on _now_.

A few uncomfortable seconds passed before Liquid somewhat got ahold of himself, and parted his lips slightly and gingerly put a hand to Mantis' waist. Mantis heard a vague, inarticulate thought about leather somewhere in the disbelieving, thrilled chaos of Liquid's brain.

Mantis, drawing on experience he'd unwillingly picked up from other people's minds, dropped his hands to around Liquid's shoulders and drew him closer, clumsily winding his tongue into Liquid's mouth. It was another few seconds before Liquid (who was eagerly kissing back by now) abruptly pulled back, his dulled shock suddenly returning with a vengeance.

"Mantis, what's gotten into you?" Liquid mumbled, raising one hand uncertainly to his lips - the other one still at Mantis' waist. "Aren't you repulsed by this… sort of stuff?"

Mantis didn't say anything. He'd been hoping to distract Liquid from that little fact. "I'll admit to being a hypocrite sometimes," he finally said.

Liquid ran a hand through his hair in confusion, his mind doing the keyboard-smash thing again, and Mantis lost patience, pushing him over so his back was on the grass, and straddled his hips. Liquid thought, _Is this really happening? Am I dreaming?_ and his eyes flicked up and down Mantis' skin-tight-leather-clad body, although it was dark and he wasn't able to see much. It would have been so much easier to just plant suggestions in his head, but Liquid was wise to Mantis' tricks and even if his higher cognitive function had basically been blown to hell by that kiss, he'd still probably notice and get mad and ruin the moment and Mantis would be back at square one. Maybe worse.

So instead he put his hands over Liquid's and led them to his thighs. _God, he has_ nice _legs_ , Liquid thought appreciatively.

Mantis leaned down to kiss him again and tried to ignore the cramped feeling in his chest. While his main problems with sex stemmed from the selfish, atavistic desire to reproduce that, as far as he could tell, 99.9% of the population was obsessed with on some level, he'd never liked the dumb animal compulsion to 'feel good' even if it couldn't result in children. It was useless. It was base. It was _revolting_ , and the fact that Liquid found him attractive was something that he'd done his level best to ignore for _years_ because he felt _degraded_ by that. Except now he was coming head-first up against that ugly little fact as Liquid hungrily kissed him, his hands running up Mantis' bony sides with a lascivious reverence.

He could feel Liquid's mounting arousal not only in the growing stiffness against his ass but also in the air like pollen on a spring day: it was electric, almost, a gathering of breathless energy, a vibration like the epicenter of an earthquake. It was hot and heavy and rife with potential. Mantis had gone to great lengths to ensure he'd never feel like that himself, no matter what anyone did to him, even engaging in what Liquid had referred to as "self-mutilation" the one time he'd (accidentally) seen it.

Mantis shifted forward slightly, his pelvis tilting downwards, as Liquid grabbed at his hips - and Liquid stopped, confused again. "I'd forgotten you had piercings," he murmured.

It was almost like Mantis was psychic or something.

"Ignore them, Eli," he said in a low voice, "even with them, I can still make love."

Despite how much Mantis hated this situation he'd gotten himself into, he had to admit the expression on Liquid's face at those words - a kind of blushing, relieved elation - was endearing in its own stupid way, which was pretty much the only way Liquid was ever endearing.

Mantis became aware of the fact that he was blushing, too.

Liquid kissed his neck, grinding up into him, his heart beating fast and his breathing slightly labored. Mantis couldn't help but draw away from him a little, but the movement only caused Liquid to moan gratifiedly against Mantis' skin. _If I could go several minutes in Ocelot's mind before I had to throw up_ , Mantis thought, _I can do this_.

But Liquid was starting to notice how disinterested Mantis was being. Mantis heard his thoughts about it before either of them said anything.

"You're the one with experience here, not me," Mantis said dryly.

"…don't force yourself to do this for my sake."

And there it was - Liquid had seen through Mantis as easily as if he'd been psychic himself, just as Mantis knew he would do in the end. This whole juncture was pointless. Liquid would never see Mantis as a sexual partner and it was really goddamn obvious why.

"Alright, I won't," Mantis said, his voice unintentionally icy, and he slid off of Liquid, re-taking his original seat with his back against the roots of the tree.

Liquid sat up. He wasn't surprised, and was even thinking, _So that explains it_ , but by the same token he was frustrated and disappointed. "What the hell was that all about?"

"Just checking to see if you needed to 'blow off some steam,'" Mantis said, his cold tone continuing. "Forget it, Eli."

"…so you lied to me," Liquid said, putting one hand over his face and gritting his teeth, "you weren't _jealous_ of Ocelot, you were just trying to get him out of my sex life."

"I said forget it, Eli." He grabbed his mask and started putting it back on. At least with his mask on he could pretend Liquid wasn't angry at him again.

"You don't really give a damn that I'm in love with you, do you? You're just possessive! You're upset that Ocelot _dared_ to even _touch_ me, so now you're trying to use _sex_ to keep me away from him? That's low, even for you. My god, and that's exactly what you accused _him_ of doing!"

"I said _forget it_ , Eli!" Mantis snapped. And something very strange happened: Liquid's expression changed. Instead of the wounded rage he'd been brandishing a second ago, it was now perfectly blank. He blinked several times, mild curiosity settling onto his features, then looked around the clearing, subtly drawing his legs up to his chest.

"Why," he said idly, "did you bring me all the way out here, anyway?"

Mantis goggled at him.

"…Mantis?"

Mantis took a quick look into Liquid's mind, and found his most recent memory to be sitting down at the foot of the tree with Mantis, and his most pressing concern at the moment _where on earth did this random boner come from?! Maybe Mantis won't notice it…_

Apparently, when Mantis had told him to forget it, he literally had. _Huh_ , Mantis thought. He didn't know he could do that. Although perhaps it was one of a handful of abilities that only seemed to work on Liquid, due to their preexisting bond… still, the thought occurred to Mantis: _Could I make him forget Iraq?_

Obviously it wasn't something to try immediately. He'd just discovered this capability, and deleting three, almost four years from his memory would be very, very different from deleting fifteen minutes.

But _could_ he?

And more importantly… _should_ he?

"Mantis? Are you listening to me?"

"Hm?"

"Why did you bring me out here?" He tensed, his brow furrowing, and he started, "don't tell me-"

Mantis shook his head. "Nothing to do with Ocelot. I'm done with that."

"Oh."

He jerked his head up towards the sky. "I just wanted you to see that."

Liquid looked up. "Ah… yes, it is a great view, isn't…?" He laughed. "We came out all this way just to look at the stars? That's surprisingly sentimental of you, Mantis," he said, referring to the way they, when they were children, would do exactly this some clear nights. Things had been different back then. Not too different, all things considered, but… different. Better, in many ways.

"Yes," Mantis said, "sentimental."

* * *

Liquid figured he must have lost track of time. When he got back behind the wheel of the car and glanced at the dashboard clock, it was at _least_ ten minutes later than he'd thought it'd been. Must have gotten caught up in the nostalgia of it, he figured. It was a clear night, after all, with nice weather, the stars were shining bright and close, framed by the branches of the trees around them - and Mantis, while he was clearly preoccupied with something, hadn't brought up Ocelot except once. So when Liquid started heading back to FOXHOUND headquarters - alone, since Mantis had opted to stay behind, probably to brood - he was… relieved. Not only because Mantis had finally let the whole one night stand situation go, but also because an hour or two of stargazing and casual, comfortable conversation with his best (only real) friend had done much, much more to relieve Liquid's stress than the one night stand had. Even ignoring the fact that said one night stand had led to a ton of headache-inducing drama…

The only _problem_ now was that at some point, for no discernible reason, his system had become flush with hormones and he was chest-deep in the primitive, pleasureless craving to empty his balls. It was like an itch that demanded to be scratched, but like hell Liquid would do that in a moving car. Or worse, anywhere in the vicinity of Psycho Mantis.

His half-chub had faded quite a while ago, before Mantis ever commented on it - so, Liquid supposed he never noticed it, or else deliberately ignored it as he did so many things - but now Liquid's whole body, and groin especially, was oversensitive and achingly tender, and he kept shifting uncomfortably in his seat. Every time the car went over a bump in the road - which was often - it felt like a kick in the crotch.

 _What the hell_ , Liquid thought tiredly, wincing. _I'll just get back to my quarters, have a wank, and forget about this whole nasty business. And chalk up the inexplicable randiness to my inferior genes…_

The road smoothed out for the last mile and a half before the compound. And while that was good, because the ride was no longer painfully rough, the vibration of the car's powerful engine - intensified by Liquid's speeding - was sending blood shooting right back to his dick. By the time he parked the car, not even three minutes later, he had a furious erection tenting the front of his pants like an unwanted guest.

"Fuck," he whispered to himself, leaning his head against the steering wheel. Okay, hopefully there was no one between the vehicle bay and his room…

…of _course_ he would run into Ocelot in the hallway.

And whatever Ocelot was about to say to him was discarded in favor of an obvious glance downwards, followed by his eyes' slow trawl up Liquid's body until he was looking him in the face again. The corners of his mouth twitched upward, pleased.

"Need a hand, boss?"

Liquid backed up, fully aware of the fact that he was bright red. "It isn't what it looks like-"

"Is it?" Ocelot said, taking a step towards Liquid. Liquid took another step back, but ran into the wall. He swallowed hard. "Because it looks to me like you're in need of another fuck." He braced his arms against the wall on either side of Liquid, cutting off any chance at a dignified escape.

"I said I wouldn't again," Liquid said, avoiding Ocelot's gaze, "it was a one time thing, Ocelot."

"What's stopping you?" One leg was forced between his thighs, pressing against his hard-on. Liquid gasped, his hips jerking, and slid down the wall a few inches as his knees buckled.

"M-Mantis will be…"

"Forget him, boss," Ocelot said, looming closer. Liquid belatedly realized his hands were desperately gripping the fabric of Ocelot's vest. "Unless there's something between the two of you that I don't know about?"

"…no."

Liquid swallowed a moan as Ocelot's thigh rubbed against him, and he couldn't help but rub himself against it back. "Then he'll get over it," Ocelot said matter-of-factly.

"We'll be seen," Liquid tried again, struggling to keep his composure despite his twitching legs and aching erection.

"Raven and Octopus are asleep already and Wolf's holed up in the shooting range until morning. We're fine."

Liquid had a confused thought, _But what about Mantis_ , before Ocelot removed one hand from the wall and massaged Liquid's cock through his pants, and he almost climaxed right then. He couldn't disguise his groan this time, and he tensed against Ocelot's chest, barely registering that Ocelot was worrying his ear with his teeth.

Unlike a few nights ago, there wasn't any real pleasure now in Ocelot's hands or mouth. Liquid humped his hand mindlessly, his eyes shut tight, panting, less indulgence and more impetus. An urge, a compulsion, nothing more. Even the jolt of oversensitive skin being rubbed against fabric didn't feel _good_ so much as it felt alien and suffocating.

"Oh, god…"

There was the sound of a zipper and Liquid's whole body jerked, memories of his imprisonment flashing into his mind - the first time, the first time it had happened he hadn't even realized it wasn't just another interrogation session until he heard that zipper - and he forced his eyes open, focusing on Ocelot's vest, his shirt, the tan hands grasping the fabric, his own throbbing dick being pulled out of his fly by Ocelot's hand, the slight bulge in Ocelot's pants where he was starting to get hard, too.

He was honestly starting to get dizzy.

"خلاص," Liquid hissed, his voice slurring into another moan as Ocelot stroked his cock, teasing him pitilessly. _No, no,_ he told himself, this wasn't a radicals' camp in southern Iraq, this was the FOXHOUND headquarters. He wasn't being humiliated as a part of torture, he had just happened to be cornered by Ocelot in a hallway while he was retreating to his quarters to jack off anyway.

He tilted his head back, moaning, slipping an inch further down the wall, and somewhere in there the word "كَلَّا" slipped out. Ocelot's erection was pressing persistently against him now, making him feel sick to the stomach, and there was another sound of a zipper - "لا تلمسني," Liquid groaned - and Ocelot's dick was chafing against his, his fingers still stroking, caressing with insulting gentleness as Liquid thrust hungrily into his touch.

"…لا أريد…"

"English, boss," Ocelot breathed against his throat.

"Ghn… hh… no, nevermind… didn't mean anything…"

It took another three or four apparently endless minutes of frottage until Liquid hit his limit with a half-scream, making a mess of Ocelot's shirt. Ocelot wasn't done yet, of course - he kept Liquid pinned to the wall, grinding against his softening cock, while Liquid panted and writhed in discomfort bordering on outright pain. He went limp after thirty seconds, his head spinning and his chest tight. And every last bit of skin so, so sensitive.

Finally, Ocelot ejaculated, and after taking a moment to catch his breath, wrapped up the whole unpleasant affair by tucking both his and Liquid's dicks back into their pants, zipping them up, and mopping up all the semen with a handkerchief that Liquid hoped he'd burn later. "Is that better?" Ocelot asked, his voice as casual as ever, with barely a hint that he'd just brought Liquid to orgasm practically in front of God and everyone.

Liquid nodded, exhausted. His whole body felt raw and he himself felt half out of his mind, but at least the itch was scratched and they hadn't been caught. He hauled himself up off the wall and almost immediately stumbled against Ocelot, and when the latter caught him Liquid pushed himself violently away. There was a brief moment when they stared at each other - Liquid agonizingly conscious of the fact that he had no right to be repulsed, terrified even, by him now, when they'd just finished having sex for the second time in less than a week - then Liquid turned on his heel and slunk away, deliberately silent.

His ordeal had finished with his rescue by American forces in 1994. That was years ago. He had no business thinking about it now.

* * *

Mantis' first clue that something was wrong was when he walked into the mess hall and Wolf commented, "Oh, so that's where you are."

"What?" he said.

"The boss was looking for you."

"No," Octopus corrected her, "he just wanted to know where he was. I think he's avoiding you, Mantis."

Now that Mantis thought about it, he _hadn't_ seen Liquid all day, and it was already mid-afternoon. He hadn't really noticed since, ironically, he was too busy thinking about him: ever since last night, he'd been puzzling over the question of whether or not it was a good idea to wipe some of Liquid's more traumatic memories.

"Why is he avoiding me?" Mantis said.

"I don't know," Wolf said, "what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything."

Octopus rolled his eyes. _That's what he always says_ , he thought.

It occurred to Mantis that, before he wasted too much time wondering about the implications of erasing memories, it would be a good idea to see if the accidental memory wipe from last night had even took. Maybe Liquid had remembered - which would be bad - and was avoiding Mantis because of exactly that - which would be just as well. Mantis kind of wished he didn't remember attempting to seduce Liquid, either.

Locating anyone within his five-mile range was easy for Mantis. He found Liquid outside, near the fence, and teleported behind him. Liquid jumped and spun around, his face pale, as soon as he heard Mantis' breathing.

"I can explain," Liquid said immediately, but Mantis wasn't listening. He was staring at him in shock and maybe even horror. While he didn't find any evidence of _his_ come-on, except for a undetailed, jumbled memory that Liquid had dismissed as a dream he'd belatedly remembered, he _did_ find Ocelot. _Again_. Except this time, it was…

"Jesus _Christ_ , boss," Mantis said out loud, with venom in his voice.

Liquid had no way of knowing that Ocelot was the one Mantis wanted to kill right now, not him. He went on the defensive. "It still isn't any of your business, Mantis."

"You said you wouldn't do it again!"

"I did, then I did it anyway. So what?" His jaw worked. "It has nothing to do with you, so leave me alone about it."

"I-" Mantis cut himself off. He realized that if he hadn't left Liquid high and dry last night, Ocelot would have had a _lot_ harder time taking advantage of him. So, this was at least partially Mantis' fault.

"I swear, Mantis, if this starts a new round of you haranguing me about Ocelot-"

"It won't," Mantis said flatly, "I told you. I'm done."

Liquid blinked. "…oh."

"I'll just pretend this never happened."

Liquid swallowed, his cheeks turning slightly pink. "Yes, that's for the best."

After this, Liquid holed himself up in his office and refused to see anyone - even Ocelot, according to Raven, but especially Mantis. That was fine. Mantis had determined that he was going to murder Ocelot at the earliest possible convenience, so he was just going to have to get used to not being on speaking terms with Liquid for a while.

That night, after everyone else had gone to bed, Ocelot stood in the empty shooting range, talking on the phone - a progress report on his manipulation of Liquid Snake.

"…no, sir, it worked. Yes, I thought he would be a problem, but it's taken care of. …yes, sir, every time he says something against me, he'll just be dismissed as being paranoid and territorial… no, sir. I can't part them for long. They'll make up, but in the meantime it's awkward enough between them that I have a foothold. …yes, sir. Yes, sir, he'll be ready when the time comes… of course, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. …I'll call back if anything else comes up… of course, sir. Goodbye."

As soon as he hung up, the phone flew out of his hands. He wasn't surprised at all, since midway through his report he'd noticed just about every gun in the armory, loaded and cocked, floating barely concealed in the shadows of the ceiling, muzzles trained on his head.

"I suppose that's the proof you've been looking for," Ocelot said lazily, turning around to face Mantis, who was floating a foot in the air, menacingly, behind him, Ocelot's cell phone held up in one hand.

"I don't need _proof_ after what you did last night," Mantis hissed.

Ocelot raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh?"

"It might have slipped Liquid's mind, but _I_ remember that _you speak Arabic_. You knew what he was saying when _he told you to stop!_ " Mantis spat. "That's _rape!_ "

"He didn't mean it," Ocelot said with a shrug. The levitating guns moved closer, spinning around him in an airy vortex.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now."

"Because Liquid thinks his hard work is what got him a spot as commander, and he'll never forgive you if you murder a comrade under his watch without some kind of proof that you were justified."

"Ha!" Mantis shook the phone in his hand a little. "I know you're paranoid enough that you'd record all the calls on your phone… that's all I need to prove that you were colluding with," he paused ever so slightly, presumably to read the phone's memory, "the presi-?!"

BANG!

 _Poor Mantis_ , Ocelot thought, spinning his revolver once and putting it back in its holster, _always forgets his reaction time is abysmal when he can't read the other person's intentions_. Mantis was staring at the wreck of the phone in his hand. Behind the lens of his gas mask, his eyes were wide.

"Hear me out before you kill me," Ocelot drawled as Mantis turned his enraged glare on him, the guns we has levitating almost vibrating in his fury.

"I was _right_ ," Mantis said, his voice going up an octave.

"For all the wrong reasons," Ocelot said, rolling his eyes. "You had nothing but your own petty jealousies to go on until tonight. But yes, it's true, I'm manipulating him. And it'd be so much easier if you'd just let me do it instead of forcing me to get you out of the way."

"Why would I just _let_ you manipulate him?!"

"Because with you in our corner, I'd have an easier time making sure the president's plan doesn't get Liquid killed," Ocelot said with a tired smile, "despite what you think of me, I _am_ fond of him. Yes, yes, I'm setting him up… but I'm setting him to be _powerful_. He'll never accept help from the president, and that's why I have to go around behind his back, but within a few years he'll be able to finally fulfill his little dream of re-establishing Outer Heaven so he can prove to himself that anything Big Boss can do, he can do _better_."

Mantis kept glowering at him. "And what makes you think I even want to go along with that?"

"It'll be a perfect opportunity for chaos and destruction on a mass scale."

Mantis was silent, and Ocelot's smile widened imperceptibly. Everyone could be tempted by something.

"…I'll keep quiet and let you live on two conditions," Mantis said coldly.

"Yes?" There was no need to point out that that was Mantis' only real option anyway.

"First, if you ever _touch_ Eli _ever again_ , I'll castrate you. I don't care if _he_ comes onto _you_ , the answer is no."

"Agreed."

"Second, if I even have the faintest _inkling_ that your stupid plan is going to get Eli hurt or killed, I'll turn you inside-out and run you up the flagpole, and then I'll go to Washington, D.C. and do the same thing to the president."

"That's fair," Ocelot said.

The suspended guns' muzzles pointed at the ceiling, and Mantis crossed his arms, scrutinizing Ocelot. Ocelot patiently waited for Mantis to accept his apparent sincerity. After a long, very pregnant pause, Mantis nodded once and disappeared, and all the weapons clattered to the floor, leaving Ocelot to put them away.

This was fine. After all, all he had to do now was make sure Mantis died before Liquid did.

**Author's Note:**

> _Mantis' unspecified inguinal piercings are my interpretation of his canon cock ring. Which is canon. (Seriously, look it up.)_   
>  _Liquid's Arabic lines are, in order: **Stop, No, Don't touch me,** and **I don't want...** Note: I don't speak Arabic like at all, and had to use online travel guides to get those, so if they're wrong? That's why!_   
>  _And my apologies if the ending seemed kind of abrupt. I didn't really know what to do with it, since it's leading up to a canon event and all. (shrug)_
> 
> _P.S. A "lime" is "just short of a lemon" - while a "lemon" is a sex scene, for you newfags out there. So the scene where Mantis awkwardly tries to seduce Liquid is a lime. The more you know~_
> 
>  
> 
> any and all comments will be forewarded to aireyv! i will either copy/paste their reply to me or they will reply on their own account! have a nice day!!! if you have any questions, just ask!!!!


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